Responding to Meeting Requests
When you receive a meeting invitation via e-mail, it resembles an ordinary message, with the following key differences:
The Meeting Request icon to the left of the invitation in the message list is different.
The message header shows the sender's name, Required and Optional attendees, and the location and time of the meeting.
Special-purpose toolbar buttons are visible in the Preview pane and in the message window, as shown in Figure 13.6. Using these buttons, you can accept the invitation, decline it, or propose a new time. Click the Tentative button when you want to reserve the right to change your mind later.
Figure 13.6. Use these buttons to accept or decline a meeting invitation. Click the Calendar button to open your Calendar folder and check details of your schedule.
If you accept the invitation, Outlook adds the item to your calendar. You can add a note to your response or send a default notification to the meeting organizer.
If you're not the meeting organizer, you can propose an alternate date or time for the meeting. Choosing this option opens a form in which you can respond to the meeting organizer. As the organizer, you can see all proposed changes in a single window and choose the one that works best for you.
If a meeting organized by someone else is on your calendar, you can change its time—for that matter, you can delete it outright. There's nothing wrong with this course of action if the meeting organizer stops you in the hall or calls on the phone to cancel or change the time. If you change the item in your calendar, Outlook does not update the original item on the meeting organizer's calendar.
Caution
If you attempt to change the time of a meeting organized by someone else, be sure to click the Propose New Time box. If you click Accept or Tentative, the Office Assistant displays a warning dialog box urging you to send a message to the meeting organizer, but Outlook's response-handling script ignores the changes and marks the original item on the organizer's calendar to show that you've accepted.
To decline an invitation after you have already accepted the meeting request and added it to your calendar, open the item and click the Decline button. Outlook offers to send a message to the organizer; add text explaining that your schedule has changed, and click the Send button.
If you are the meeting organizer, you can also cancel a meeting at any time by deleting it from your calendar. Outlook offers to send a cancellation message on your behalf to all the attendees you previously invited.